Ex-NSA Chief: Jimmy Carter's Email Remarks 'Unfortunate'

The former head of the National Security Agency says Jimmy Carter's belief that the agency reads his private emails is way off base.

"First of all, we're not reading everybody's emails," retired Gen. Michael Hayden told "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV. "And we certainly wouldn't target the emails of a U.S. person, including former presidents of the United States."
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On Sunday, the former president told NBC’s "Meet the Press" that he had devised his own system to avoid being spied on by the NSA, which is under scrutiny for its surveillance of Americans.

"When I want to communicate with a foreign leader privately, I would type or write the letter myself, put it in the post office and mail it," Carter said, adding that he thought the NSA had abused its authority.

"We've kind of lit the fires of people being overly afraid of an agency simply trying to defend the American people, so it was very unfortunate that President Carter said what he said," Hayden said Wednesday.

"Now, look, there may be other intelligence services out there, in other countries, who are interested in his emails, but I can assure you that NSA is not."